How to make a PDF from inside Creating a PDF using Features 1. Create PDF From File>Create PDF... A. Converts a source document into a PDF B. The fonts, formatting graphics, and color from the source file are preserved C. Basic process: i. Start the process (Tasks toolbar>createpdf, File menu>create>pdf From File) a. On the Mac, will not see the toolbars if there is no document open ii. Select the source document (e.g., JPEG, TXT, etc.) iii. Choose special PDF settings (some file types allow settings to be adjusted, most do not) iv. Save the PDF file to the desired location D. What types of source documents are supported? i. Raster graphics: BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG, TIFF, PCX (low res) ii. Vector graphics: PICT, PostScript/EPS iii. Other: JDF (Job Definition Format which includes instructions for prepress service providers) Plain text files (.txt) HTML (source code for the creation of a web page) Microsoft Office files but you must have the Office application to do this. The application is not really opened but works in the background. This works on Windows only. The Mac version of doesn t support conversion from iv. Anything that is available in the folder you are looking in can be scanned v. Some Creative suite files are not available, as indd files These must be made into PDFs from the original application. Check the preferences (>Preferences>Convert to PDF-Mac, and Edit>Prefs> Convert to PDF -Windows, to see which file formats can be converted. Raster Graphic Vector Graphic The flowers are an example of a raster graphic this small graphic could add 2 MB of storage to your source file! Good thing it can be compressed when made into a PDF using Preferences. 16
E. To customize the PDF settings BEFORE selecting the source document i. Choose Edit>Preferences (Win) or >Preferences (Mac) and then choose Convert to PDF ii. Choose the file type you are interested in. With some file types, the Edit Settings button is available, with other types it is not. iii. The files types available to convert to PDF depend on the platform and the applications that are installed on the machine. F. Batch conversion i. If you want to convert multiple documents (i.e. multiple JPEG graphics) into a series of individual PDFs, choose File>Create>Batch Create Multiple Files ii. Click on the Add Files button and find the files you want to batch process, the formats that are available. iii. Each file will be saved as a separate PDF and will not automatically display in after the save iv. You must go into the folder where the files were saved to open the PDFs 2. Create PDF From Scanner A. How is it done? i. If you have a scanner associated with your computer, you can usually save a file as a PDF directly from the scanner ii. Option: OCR text recognition to make text searchable/accessible. The PDF is like a regular scan but actual text exists underneath iii. Graphic images are also recognized B. Alternative method i. File>Create PFD>From Scanner>choose pre-set (Black & White, Grayscale, Color Document, Color Image) or choose Custom Scan ii. Choose the scan settings 3. Create PDF From Clipboard A. Purpose: to capture content on the clipboard into a PDF i. The formatting is retained B. How do you get content onto the clipboard? i. In a source program that supports graphics or text, use the Edit>Copy menu (Photoshop, Word clipart, Web browser, Illustrator vector graphics get converted to pixels) C. Choose the Create PDF From Clipboard (Image) menu command after the clipboard is set up with the desired contents (Edit>Copy) D. Check out these (Mac only) screen capture features in the File>Create menu i. Screen Capture - captures the entire screen ii. Window Capture - captures the application you click on iii. Selection Capture eg. You get crosshairs and can drag around an area to be made into a PDF, whether it is a part of a browser window, or an image, the selection will be made into a PDF OCR 17
4. Create PDF From Web Page A. Why convert a web page? i. Archive (store) a web page or entire site, useful because sites update/change frequently ii. Proofing your website iii. Include web pages in a PDF slide show iv. Import a web PDF into a graphics application (especially useful in desktop publishing) v. When travelling, a website can be downloaded and viewed offline (and later updated when you have Internet access) vi. The website can be printed to a PDF from the browser but there are more options in B. What gets stored into the web page PDF? i. Any web page can be made into a PDF, not just the home page ii. HTML, JPEG and GIF images (including the last frame of an animated GIF) iii. Text and image maps. Text color can be forced to another color iv. Tables, frames, background. Backgrounds can be turned off or changed color v. Multimedia will try to embed but it doesn t always work. Flash animation can be problematic vi. Headers and Footers vii. HTML links turn into PDF links, and HTML forms turn into PDF forms C. Internet Explorer browser (Windows only) i. Convert to PDF button in browser, also Select to capture part of page ii. Full customization features D. Basics of web capture i. Must have Internet access explore the designated website before capturing! ii. Choose Create>From Web Page (Tasks toolbar, File menu) iii. Type in the URL (web address) of the web page (Hint: if you ve just visited the URL in your browser, copy it and paste into text box) iv. Specify how many levels of web pages are to be collected into the PDF v. Level: 1 is the specified web page only (other levels can be specified). Level 2 would be the links from the first level. Be very aware of how big the website is and how many pages it would create vi. Click on the Create button E. Settings for Create>From Web Page i. Decide if there will be more than one level captured. ii. If so, the options are Get entire site: gets the entire website (be careful as this could result in a 18
huge PDF) Stay on same path: gets web pages directly associated with URL (ex: on my class website you could get only pages and not pages for other classes I teach) Stay on same server: gets pages only on the same server as the URL (if webpage has links to other servers, those links are ignored when the PDF is created) iii. Web Page conversion settings Sets bookmarks for each converted page Headers/footers to be placed on each page Create PDF tags for accessibility iv. Page layout settings a. Sets up page size, orientation of PDF, and margins v. In Settings button for HTML Specify the default HTML fonts used when capturing the web page Default colors, or change the colors in the PDF for text, background and links Convert images. If checked, images are converted into the PDF. If unchecked, no images will show up in the PDF. If no images, faster download Choose to disable multimedia, embed multimedia or link to multimedia on a webpage F. Adding additional web pages to a PDF i. Open a PDF generated from a web page ii. Open the Bookmark panel, right-click (PC) or control-click (Mac) and choose Append Next Level. Be careful as this may add many, many pages to the PDF G. Deleting web pages from the PDF: right-click (PC) or control-click (Mac) on the bookmark (this may delete several pages the correspond to an individual URL) 19
Combining multiple files into one PDF 1. Two ways to do it in X A. Combine Files into a Single PDF takes different files formats and converts them into one PDF B. Assemble PDF Portfolio creates single PDF shell with all the files embedded but not converted to PDF format 2. Merging files A. File>Create>Combine Files into a Single PDF B. Click on Add Files button and add files and/or folders from anywhere. You can also add a PDF from a scanner, from the clipboard or add a web page C. Be sure you have selected All Supported Formats when adding files D. For some file types you must have the software that created the file, e.g., Word i. On the Mac, Microsoft Office files and some Creative Suite files will not be converted. They must be converted from the original application and added to the Merged file ii. On the PC, Office files are converted but not all Creative suite files E. Can reorder files/folders by using the Move Up and Move Down buttons F. Can also Choose Pages of multi-page files G. Can choose PDF file size Smaller, Default, Larger H. Options always check before proceeding I. When finished, choose Combine Files 3. Portfolios A. About Portfolios i. New in 9 ii. Must have at least 9 or Reader 9 to enjoy all features iii. 8 and Reader 8 will see a Package the predecessor to Portfolio iv. Can be used to send a series of documents in one package and they retain their orig- i- nal document format 20
v. Single PDF (the wrapper) that contains other zipped files of other different kind of files, eg jpgs, flash files, movie files vi. Documents within a Portfolio can be previewed in, without opening each file, by double clicking on the file. Below the preview are navigation arrows, information, and an extract file button to make a copy of the file a. The individual files can be opened in the original software, assuming it is available, by clicking on the Open file icon at the top right b. The Portfolio can be saved, printed and emailed from the toolbar on top c. The Portfolio looks essentially the same in Reader except there is no Edit button on the toolbar B. Creating a Portfolio i. File>Create>PDF Portfolio ii. Choose a layout or Import a Custom Layout iii. Click on Add Files button and add files and /or folders from anywhere iv. For some file types you must have the software that created the file, e.g., Microsoft Word, multimedia v. Click on Finish button to create Portfolio C. Click on the Edit button on top to reveal the panels D. Layout Panel i. Add content a. Can add more files and folders b. Can use Create New Folder to better organize contents of Portfolio c. Can add Web content where a small web file is added to link to the content you provided d. Can add or delete files/folders at any time ii. Portfolio Layouts a. Can try out the look of other layouts iii. Visual Themes a. Can try out different backgrounds. The screenshot on the right has a Tech Office background iv. Color Palettes a. Color Accents can be customized v. Background color a. An image can be selected for the background, or the default ones can be customized. The image can be sized and faded back if you wish vi. The Header can be customized; a title can be added and formatted. The font can be embedded into the Portfolio so the header will look as you intend 21
E. Detail Panel i. Determines what columns of information show up when you double click on the file and see the icon, revealing the information set up in the Details panel F. Share Panel i. You have the ability to share the portfolio by email or SendNow G. Search Portfolio i. Search can be done either with or Reader ii. Type in text in Search box in upper right hand corner, click on binoculars iii. Can also click on down arrow beside binoculars for advanced search features iv. Document name and number of instances appears below v. When you click on the name of the file that was found, it will go to that page in the Portfolio vi. Click on Open button beside document name document opens in source software and you must do another search to find the instances H. There are 2 views to view the Portfolio: Layout and Files i. The layout shows the files graphically ii. The files view is a list view. You can sort here by the parameters on the top I. Editing files in Portfolio i. Double-clicking on files in Portfolio opens Preview of file within ii. Must have source software to Preview many types of files, e.g., Office files are previewed but need the original program to be opened iii. Other types, such as graphic files, will Preview immediately iv. Cannot edit files in Preview mode must click on Open button which fully opens software associated with that file type J. Adding Security to Portfolios - covered later in class K. The portfolio may be published to a website i. Choose File > Save PDF Portfolio As Web Site. HMTL files and data files are created. It is easier to create a folder first to store the files and keep them together ii. This must then be uploaded to a server L. Making the Portfolio compatible with earlier versions of i. If created in X, will show perfectly in X Reader. ii. If opened in earlier versions, some design will not show up. The files are there, as attachments iii. You can create a cover page explaining how to use the Portfolio so earlier versions see this first, not the Adobe warning. The new cover page can replace the Adobe page so that it opens first 4. SendNow A. An Adobe service created to send large files over the internet securely. B. Adobe SendNow supports a broad range of file types from CAD files to ZIP files to Microsoft Office documents 22